Timeline of Earth-12

Earth-12 contains many humor characters from DC Comics, Quality Comics, Fawcett Comics, Charlton Comics, and Fox Features. While it is possible that these characters exist in different humor-based dimensions, it's still worthwhile to place them all on the same timeline.

Not all humor characters exist on Earth-12, however, since several humor series exist more or less in a realistic setting. Humor characters who live in fantastical settings, interact with fantasy characters, and/or use parodies of existing characters or people probably exist in the Earth-12 universe, rather than in one of the more realistic universes such as Earth-1 or Earth-2. Humor characters who appear in short gag-based strips (rather than story-based strips with humor) are also most likely based on Earth-12. We have done our best to categorize characters based on the above criteria.

This timeline began as Mikel Midnight's Earth-12 timeline and will be expanded and revised in time to more closely fit within the Five Earths Project. Please note that Earth-12 typically contains contradictory histories and timelines, so any of the events below may be ignored or revised in other stories, and should be considered as placeholders.

Ancient History

59,600 B.C.

Superman and Aquaman travel to Atlantis, according to their approximation, fifty thousand years before it is destined to sink. [Super Friends #18]

48,000 B.C.

The continent of Atlantis sinks, leaving only a few island remains of its once great cultures, including Cerdia, Poseidonis, Therna Na Oge, and Tritonis. A surviving colony takes the name of Oompah. [Inferior 5 #3]

c. 30 B.C.

Prince Algon of the city of Ma-Phoor (somewhere south of Ethiopia) becomes the first Metamorph. He is the betrothed of Queen Jezeba (a dead ringer for Sapphire Stagg). [Metamorpho #16-17]

1649

1790's

Sir Chauncey Berkeley, also known as the Crimson Chrysanthemum, helps aristocrats escape from France during the Reign of Terror. The Inferior Five time-travel from November 1967 to the French Revolution where they help the Crimson Chrysanthemum save Charles Darnit, rightful Marquis St. EvrŽman, from Madame Defarce. [Inferior 5 #5]

1860

Batman travels to Michigan in 1860, where he meets a young Tom Edison. [Super Friends #18]

1880's

Chubblock Homes has first public case as consulting detective. [Comic Cuts, 16 June 1894]

1937

November, 1937

1938

Mr. Brent, strong enough to shatter concrete or turn boulders into sand with his bare hands, becomes Mr. Might. He was born Barb-Ell of the planet Neon, son of Dumb-Ell. After the citizens of Neon ignored his warnings of their planet's pending destruction, Dumb-Ell sent his son Barb-Ell in a rocket to Earth. However, Dumb-Ell really was a crackpot, and Neon never did explode. [Inferior 5 #1]

May, 1938

After dictator Gil O. Teen the First of Pyromania orders that all men with beards shall either be shot, boycotted, or sent to concentration camps, a young red-haired artist named Archie O'Toole is sent to jail after painting a portrait of an old man with a long white beard. When the dictator asks him to paint his portrait in exchange for his freedom, Archie paints an abstract painting instead, then tricks the dictator into walking backwards right off his own ledge. According to the laws of the land, Gil O. Teen is deposed for being made a fool, and Archie is made the new king of Pyromania. King O'Toole is assisted by his advisor, old Sneezheim. [Archie O'Toole, Feature Funnies #10 (July, 1938)]

June, 1938

Archie O'Toole, the new king of Pyromania, is challenged to a sword fight by deposed dictator Gil O. Teen, who is defeated with the help of a schoolboy with a slingshot. [Archie O'Toole, Feature Funnies #11 (August, 1938)]

August, 1938

September, 1938

Former dictator Gil O. Teen leads a rebellion against King Archie O'Toole of Pyromania, using an army of rebels who have been made angry through starvation. King O'Toole has a picnic rather than watching the battle, and he inadvertently stops the war by winning the rebel soldiers over with his picnic food. [Archie O'Toole, Feature Funnies #14 (November, 1938)]

October, 1938

Archie O'Toole, king of Pyromania, visits New York City in America to secure a loan for his cash-strapped nation. Landing in Chinatown, King O'Toole meets an agent who throws a ticker-tape parade for him and then has him sign hundreds of product endorsement contracts, such as toothpaste ads. [Archie O'Toole, Feature Funnies #15 (December, 1938)]

November, 1938

While visiting America, King Archie O'Toole of Pyromania decides to see the sights but is soon targeted by criminals, one of whom uses his reluctant blonde stepdaughter Suzy Sweet to act as a damsel in distress so he can kidnap King O'Toole. After the crime chief and his henchmen shoot each other over an argument, King O'Toole returns to Pyromania with Suzy after they fall for each other. [Archie O'Toole, Feature Funnies #16 (January, 1939)]

December, 1938

After his ministers Hodge, Podge, and Fudge arrange for Archie O'Toole to marry Vera Venom, queen of Tewtimia, they are surprised when King O'Toole returns to Pyromania with Suzy Sweet of America. When Vera threatens to invade Pyromania if Archie doesn't marry her, the royal cabinet arranges for a beauty contest to decide between the two possible queens. After a tie in rounds one and two, Suzy wins round three's bathing suit contest when it turns out that Vera is bow-legged. [Archie O'Toole, Feature Funnies #17 (February, 1940)]

1939

John Claypool, Lord Gravestone has first public case as Darwin of the Apes. He eventually marries and settles down with his wife, Jayne. [Inferior 5 #3]

Prince Nabob has first public case as the Sub-Moron/Sunk Mariner. [Inferior 5 #7]

February, 1939

Flossie has her last published adventure as an ordinary schoolgirl. [Flossie, Feature Funnies #17 (February, 1939)]

Mortimer Mum, a bald, middle-aged man with a white mustache and a top hat who never speaks, begins adventures. [Mortimer Mum, Feature Funnies #19 (April, 1939)]

June, 1939

Nibbsy, a bald, bespectacled little man with a white mustache who wears a green, yellow, blue, or red robe begins appearing from out of nowhere to do favors for people. His catchphrase is, “Nibbsy, that's me!” In his first known adventures, he uses a heavy book to knock out a pushy man asking a secretary out to dinner, and shows up unexpectedly as a one-man marching band for a young couple in love wanting to dance to music in the fields. [Rube Goldberg's Side Show, Feature Comics #23 (August, 1939)]

1940

Jason Cramer, who can run and fly at fantastic speeds, becomes Captain Swift.

Ellen Pasken comes from an unknown land under the sea to become the Mermaid.

Victor Victor, the son of Yellowjacket who gathers his great stamina from the people who still believe in the American dream, becomes the Patriot.

Lady Berkeley, a descendent of the Crimson Chrysanthemum and an expert in judo and karate who also carries the “Torch of Freedom” which serves her as an offensive weapon and the “Book of Justice” as her defensive weapon, becomes Lady Liberty.

Abigail Mathilda Hunkle becomes the Red Tornado I [Sheldon Mayer]

Joseph Jones becomes General Glory. He is soon acompanied by Ernest E. Earnest, as Ernie, the Battling Boy. [Justice League America #46]

February, 1940

Mortimer Mum has his last published adventure as a middle-aged man who never speaks. [Mortimer Mum, Feature Comics #31 (April, 1940)]

March, 1940

March 24: After the stork delivers the strongest baby in the world to a destitute family, Poison Ivy the Mighty Mite decides to strike out on his own, frustrated at his father's constant complaints about being poor (even after he provided them with a meal by killing the stork). A crook tries to kidnap the super-baby for the ransom money, but Poison Ivy instead captures him and sends a note to the police to double the reward money for his capture. The police try to bust into the empty house where Poison Ivy is keeping the crook, but after they realize a super-baby is holding them off with one hand, they decide to pay double the ransom, after all, in the form he requested. Poison Ivy returns to his father with a dump-truck full of pennies. Note: Poison Ivy is later referred to as the strongest human in the world. [Poison Ivy the Mighty Mite, Feature Comics #32 (May, 1940)]

April, 1940

Poison Ivy the Mighty Mite visits a recruiting office and quickly proves, through a series of increasingly difficult tests, that he's worth 100,000 recruits and ends up filling the quota himself by joining the U.S. Army. [Poison Ivy the Mighty Mite, Feature Comics #33 (June, 1940)]

May, 1940

Deciding that the New York Yankees have held the championship long enough, Poison Ivy joins the Brooklyn Dodgers as a water boy, then doses them with water from the Fountain of Youth, causing them to become younger and younger until they disappear. As the last team member, Poison Ivy then plays against the Yankees, beating them with 268 home runs. [Poison Ivy the Mighty Mite, Feature Comics #34 (July, 1940)]

In his last regular appearance, Nibbsy saves six kittens from being drowned by catching them with an old baseball glove as they're being tossed off the dock, then reunites them with their mother. [Rube Goldberg's Side Show, Crack Comics #3 (July, 1940)]

August, 1940

Building the smallest, fastest fighting plane in the world, Poison Ivy flies off to stop the big war between Plutonia and Takeoveria. Confronting Mr. Gunn who sells munitions to both sides, Poison Ivy forces him to throw away all his munitions and sell both sides only cream puff ammunition from now on. [Poison Ivy the Mighty Mite, Feature Comics #37 (October, 1940)]

September, 1940

September 16: Poison Ivy fights Muscletoe, a short but powerful villain known as the wrecker of the super guys of the comics, after he hospitalized a super fellow called the Great Colosso. Discovering that Muscletoe's weakness is his feet, Poison Ivy disables him, then collects the $1 million reward. [Poison Ivy the Mighty Mite, Feature Comics #38 (November, 1940)]

November, 1940

November 15: Poison Ivy runs for mayor of a town against a gangster named Sardini, who uses crooked methods to get himself elected, winning 90,000 votes to Poison Ivy's one vote, in a town of only 15,000. Writing a letter to the U.S. president, Poison Ivy is able to get the town placed under martial law, and everyone in town except for a newborn baby is arrested for being part of Sardini's mob. [Poison Ivy the Mighty Mite, Feature Comics #40 (January, 1941)]

December, 1940

Poison Ivy plays hockey for the New York Strangers against the Toronto Tea Leafs, winning the game with 86 goals. Note: The New York Strangers and the Toronto Tea Leafs are spoofs of the hockey teams the New York Rangers and the Toronto Maple Leafs, respectively. [Poison Ivy the Mighty Mite, Feature Comics #41 (February, 1941)]

1941

Artemis (?) emigrates to America from a race of Amazons to court Steve Tremor and become Power Princess. [The Amazons are revealed to be subterranean in the Angel & the Ape mini-series. This may be a reference to the 19th century novel “The Coming Race” by Edward Bulwer “dark and stormy night” Lytton. The novel is the story of the protagonist's exploration of a matriarchal subterranean civilization. The people of this world are call the “Vrilya”, and have power over a force call the “Vril”]

Mortimer King becomes the Bowman.

Theodore Knight becomes Starman I. [Adventure #61]

Eels O'Brien becomes Plastic Man. [Police #1, ref. Inferior 5 #2]

In Germany, the Masked Swastika has first public case.

January, 1941

A scientist who invented a time machine invites Poison Ivy to travel to the past and give every famous villain in history a good licking. Poison Ivy time travels to 1876 where he knocks out Chief Sitting Bull, then to 1725 where he fights Captain Kidd. Poison Ivy attempts to travel to 1200 to battle Genghis Khan, only to accidentally travel to the future year of 2100, where Poison Ivy is instead beaten up by one of his own great-great-great-grandchildren. [Poison Ivy the Mighty Mite, Feature Comics #42 (March, 1941)]

March, 1941

Miss Winky, a brunette dancer and actress who also enjoys baseball and football, begins adventures as an all-American girl. [Miss Winky the All-American Girl, National Comics #9 (March, 1941)]

Poison Ivy forces the Great Colosso, a super guy who is a conscientious objector, to join the U.S. Army. Poison Ivy then puts the Great Colosso through basic training. Note: The Great Colosso, not named as such here, first appeared in the Poison Ivy story in Feature Comics #38. [Poison Ivy the Mighty Mite, Feature Comics #44 (May, 1941)]

May, 1941

Tired of being just plain Cupid, the cherubic winged Cyclone Cupid goes to Earth and tries to be a crime-fighter like the ones from the comic-books. In his first adventure, Cyclone Cupid stops a union racketeer trying to start a fight with a police officer on the picket line, using his arrows to make the crook love the cop, then another arrow to pin him to the wall. But when he goes to get his reward, he's so disgusted by how small the reward is that he pickets the police station, petitioning for bigger rewards. [Cyclone Cupid, He Ain't Stupid, National Comics #13 (July, 1941)]

August, 1941

When America is invaded by the Germans, who starve the nation to force a surrender, General Alarm announces from a dirigible above that he has enough food for all if they surrender. Cyclone Cupid punctures the dirigible with arrows, causing not gas but soup to pour down onto the streets, allowing everyone to get their fill. [Cyclone Cupid, He Ain't Stupid, National Comics #16 (October, 1941)]

Poison Ivy fights his own double, who is equally powerful, created by the artist who draws him when he's forced to cut his feature down to one page. [Poison Ivy the Mighty Mite, Feature Comics #49 (October, 1941)]

December, 1941

December 4: Entering a ski contest, Poison Ivy makes a super-record jump, remaining high in the stratosphere for seven months until ice forces him down in July, 1942. [Poison Ivy the Mighty Mite, Feature Comics #51 (December, 1941)]

1942

July, 1942

Poison Ivy finally lands back on earth after his seven-month super-record jump in a ski contest, when ice forces him down from the stratosphere. [Poison Ivy the Mighty Mite, Feature Comics #51 (December, 1941)]

When Poison Ivy is hospitalized after capturing 643 enemy spies, he is discovered to have red nitroglycerine running through his veins instead of blood. Given a nitroglycerine blood transfusion, Poison Ivy recovers but is forced by the Federal Bomb Squad to wear a warning sign around his neck that reads: “Danger High Explosives.” [Poison Ivy the Mighty Mite, Feature Comics #58 (July, 1942)]

Poison Ivy's grandfather, an inventor, develops a chemical that can turn a shadow into rubber, though it disappears at sundown. [Poison Ivy and His Grandpa, Doll Man Quarterly #3 (Summer, 1942)]

1943

February, 1943

Poison Ivy fights a fierce giant robot invented by his grandfather, outsmarting it by using magnets and sending it to the scrap yard. [Poison Ivy the Mighty Mite, Doll Man Quarterly #5 (Spring, 1943)]

July, 1943

Poison Ivy fights a rival musclebound boy named Poison Oak, who is fast enough to dodge every blow that Poison Ivy throws at him, though he is still hospitalized for pneumonia from the breeze. [Poison Ivy, Feature Comics #71 (September, 1943)]

August, 1943

When Vaudeville magician Professor Zomby is drafted into the U.S. Army, his French assistant is ordered to take over his act, despite his inexperience. When the amateur magician asks for a volunteer for a disappearing act, a bespectacled schoolboy from Brooklyn named Perky volunteers and gets in the box. But when the amateur magician says the magic word “floozle” and operates the hidden lever, Perky isn't merely hidden from audience view in a secret compartment in the box, but is sent whirling into another dimension. In his first adventure, Perky finds himself in the Land o' Lugs, where he convinces two princes to run a race in order to pick who should be the next king. From this point on, each time the amateur magician pulls the lever to try to bring the boy back, Perky is instead sent into a series of fanciful dimensions, where he uses common sense to help out everyone he meets. [Perky, Feature Comics #75 (February, 1944); Perky, Crack Comics #10 (October, 1943)]

September, 1943

The same crook who tried to kidnap Poison Ivy two years ago after he was first delivered to his family by the stork returns for revenge by stabbing the boy, but only manages to sink the ship recently tattooed on Poison Ivy's chest. [Poison Ivy, Feature Comics #73 (November, 1943)]

December, 1943

Tired of so many war heroes showing him up, Poison Ivy decides to get a war trophy of his own and travels to war-torn Europe, bringing back Adolf Hitler himself as a trophy. [Poison Ivy, Feature Comics #75 (February, 1944)]

1944

The British Commando Unit Captain Darcy and his Rifle Brigade travel to the Middle Eastern country of Sidi Boomboom, where they compete with the American adventurer known as Maryland Smith in “Operation Bollock.” [Adventures of the Rifle Brigade #1-3]

May, 1944

Getting out of the hospital, Poison Oak attempts to get his revenge on Poison Ivy, but completely fails to harm him and ends up hospitalizing himself out of exhaustion. [Poison Ivy, Feature Comics #79 (July, 1944)]

1941-1945

The Bowman, Captain Swift, Lady Liberty, Mr. Might, the Mermaid, the Patriot, and Power Princess gather together as The Freedom Brigade; the Red Tornado sneaks into the meeting.

The Masked Swastika, Speed Demon, the Silver Sorceress and the Sparrow gather together as Vendetta.

Death of Ernie, the Battling Boy. General Glory asks [a timelost Supergirl / a time-and dimension-lost Power Girl of Earth-2] to become his new sidekick. She reluctantly agrees. [Justice League Europe Annual #2]

1946

January, 1946

Nibbsy makes a brief reappearance helping a man remember to write “1946” instead of “1945” when writing dates in this New Year by placing several pretzels in the shape of the number “6” on a nearby wall. [Rube Goldberg's Side Show, Crack Comics #40 (Winter, 1945)]

1945 - 1946

Clark Kent/Kal-El, one of the last survivors of the exploded planet Krypton, begins his career as Superboy.

Freedom Brigade disbands.

1947

February, 1947

During a walk across the United States, Poison Ivy stops in the desert to snack on a lollipop and sits on an atomic bomb in a test area a moment before it explodes, but Poison Ivy is unharmed. Twelve days later, scientists find a note from Poison Ivy demanding a box of lollipops to replace the ones destroying the atom bomb test. [Poison Ivy, Feature Comics #109 (April, 1947)]

1949

January, 1949

In his last known adventure, Poison Ivy gets a job in construction and nearly gets his boss in trouble for disregarding the child labor law. [Poison Ivy, Feature Comics #132 (March, 1949)]

late 1940's - early 1950's

Tur-Tel, the last survivor of the planet Galapagon, begins his career as Super Turtle. [Adventure #304/Silver Age 80-Page Giant #1] [Henry Boltinoff]

On an alternate possible Earth, Prof. Theo O'Day marries Princess Power, believing he can handle living with a woman with super-powers, but he discovers that he can't and leaves her after his daughter, Athena, is born. Prof. O'Day supports his daughter, but needs a more normal relationship. He marries another woman, but she dies soon after giving birth to his second daughter, Angel. Princess Power returns and takes the two of them in. The couple soon re-marries.

1950

Bob Hope begins over a decade of adventures. [Adventures of Bob Hope]

1951

1952

The Phantom Stranger has first public case. [cf. Doom Patrol #53]

Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis begin over five years of adventures together (they are not Hollywood stars in their comic book, but Jerry Lewis is clearly depicted as such on Earth-1 in Jimmy Olsen #64). [Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis #1]

1956

Bart Hawk, an American living in Poland, survives a Russian bombing raid which kills his family; he gathers together allies from a variety of NATO countries to battle communists under the name Blackhawk. [Blackhawk #108 (extrapolation based on first DC issue); ref. Inferior 5 #2]

Ace Morgan, Prof Haley, Red Ryan and Rocky Davis, narrowly escaping a plane crash, decide to make the most of their borrowed time as the Challengers of the Unknown. [Showcase #6, ref. Inferior 5 #2]

1958

1959

Abin Sur crash-lands on Earth and in his dying moments enlists test pilot Hal Jordan into the Green Lantern Corps in Coast City. [Showcase #22] Shortly before this, on a previous visit to Earth, he had enlisted unemployed student Jeremy Baxter into the Green Lantern Reserves. [“The Few, The Proud”]

1960

Mr. E, the Malleable Mystic, has first public case. [cf. Doom Patrol #53]

Dane Dorrance, John Payton, Biff Bailey, and Judy Walton meet when, individually, they all go searching for the same sunken treasure, and remain together as the Sea Devils. [ref. Inferior 5 #2]

Superman, Batman, Flash and other heroes form the Justice League of America. [ref. Showcase #63] [see Appendix I]

The popularity of a documentary television series which recounts some of Batman & Robin's greatest cases leads to a rash of imitators, including Catman & Kitten, Fatman & Tubbin, Flatman and Ribbon (the Taped Crusaders), Ratman and Rotten the Boy Blunder, Sadman and Sobbin' (the Crying Crimefighters), and so on and so on. [The Adventures of Jerry Lewis #97]

1975

1976

Senator Prez Rickard, running on the new Flower Party ticket, is elected President. During his term he assigns Eagle Free to be the new F.B.I. Chief, renames Air Force One “The Free Bee”, and encounters Supergirl (Linda Lee Danvers/Kara Zor-El). [Prez #1-4, Supergirl V3#10]

1977

Joshua Clay joins the Doom Patrol/Legion of the Strange as Tempest [note: date from Showcase #94; actual Earth-12 affiliation may not occur until later]

On an alternate Earth-12, the universe is destroyed by a visiting Mr. Mxyzptlk and Bat-Mite of Earth-1. [World's Funnest]

1978

Earth-1 is dragged out of its orbit and is transported through space at faster-than-light speed, causing weird temporal side-effects. The heroes of Earth meet to figure out a way to stop the menace. The Justice League head off into space, while the Teen Titans, Metal Men, and others tend to Earth. A number of reality-displaced heroes, including the Inferior Five, congregate at the office of Angel O'Day and Sam Simeon. The heroes finally defeat the alien menace, Earth-1 is returned safely to it's proper orbit around the Sun, and the reality-displaced heroes are returned to their home. [Showcase #100]

1983

Dorothy Spinner joins the Doom Patrol/Legion of the Strange as Spinner.

1986

A polytechnic fashion student, his sense of style destroyed by exposure to 1980s pop, becomes Captain Bad Costume. But he more than makes up for this with his super strength and kickass clown shoes that can drop a villain at twenty meters. Sadly, neither of these powers saved him from being crushed by Captain Wales at the 12th Captains Reunion Dinner… [John Freeman]

The Inferior 5 briefly visit Earth C and encounter Captain Carrot and the Zoo Crew. They may still be attempting to return home from the events of 1978. [Oz-Wonderland Wars #3]

1988

Baitman has adventures. [When DC published the November 4, 1988 edition of The Daily Planet, page 13 showed various parodic DCU comic strips, including Captain Carrot and Baitman. The Baitman strip by Bill Hinds has in an alley behind Generic National Bank, the Embezzler making his get away. Baitman shows up-just some guy in fisherman clothing with a cape, confronts the Embezzler, tells him that he switched the bag so that is filled with leeches not money (Embezzler was holding a bag with what he thought was money in it).]

1989

Roxanne “Roxy” Davis (daughter of Rocky Davis), Paul Haley (son of Prof Haley), and the son of Ace Morgan & June Robbins battle the Phantom of the Fair. [Challengers of the Unknown #39]

early 1990's

The Head (formerly Nile Caulder, the Chief), organises Crying Boy (Kenneth Most), the Australian heroine known as Flux (Danii Melvin), the Scratch (Morgan Morgan), Spinner (Dorothy Spinner) and Shasta the Living Mountain into the Doom Force. [Doom Force #1]

1994

Jack Knight takes on the mantle of Starman. [Starman v2 #0]

1995

The alien known as Mikaal Tomas is rescued from circus owner Bliss's sideshow by Jack Knight and subsequently accompanies him as Mikky the Nova Boy.